Deputies are investigating after a customer at an Independence Township gun shop fatally shot herself Tuesday after buying ammunition and shooting at the range.

The woman, 28, from Waterford, allegedly went into the Accurate Gun Range, which is located in the 6500 block of Dixie Highway near Maple Drive, bought three boxes of 0.9-mm ammunition and began practicing on the range with a rented gun.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office got a call around 12:30 p.m. after the woman was found with a gunshot wound to the head by employees. The store workers checked on the woman when they stopped hearing shots at the range.

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Later, detectives who were reviewing surveillance video found that the video showed the woman put the gun to her head and shoot herself, according to a release from the Sheriff’s Office.

On Wednesday, employees at the gun range declined to comment, referring reporters to deputies. Accurate Firearms owner Jim Kesteloot was not immediately available.

Employees at a neighboring business who preferred not to be named had heard of the incident, and said they’d heard of similar incidents in the past.

“It’s tragic is all we can really say,” said one employee.

In Royal Oak, another gun shop saw three such incidents, prompting in late summer of 2013 a task force to look at the issue of suicide. Employees from Target Sports, in the task force’s area, declined to comment for the story.

Some policies in gun shops require two people in a gun range at a given time, which could possibly serve as a deterrent to a suicide attempt.

Southfield’s Action Impact gun range and shop doesn’t employ that policy, but has many others to keep shooters safe, said owner Bill Kucyk.

Some signs his employees are trained to catch from prospective customers is lack of eye contact; lack of clarity or whether a customer engages an employee; lack of interest in the product and skill level with firearms.

“Nothing is 100-percent guaranteed,” he said, “but we know its a possibilty so we look for it.”

About the Author

John Turk covers the police beat and the Oakland County Board of Commissioners for The Oakland Press. He is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University. Reach the author at john.turk@oakpress.com
or follow John on Twitter: @jrturk.